Blood Bank
by 6sixteen
Summary: "You leave the rest of the shit at the door. It's just you and me, okay?" She felt Daryl's lips press against her shoulder. "Yeah... just you and me." In which Daryl is in a biker gang, Beth tries to kill herself, and Merle finds Jesus. Bethyl/M/violence/talk of suicide/sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"You said, see look that's yours<strong>

**Stacked on top with your brother's**

**See how they resemble one another**

**Even in their plastic little covers"**

**"Blood Bank" -Bon Iver**

Chapter 1

She was getting agitated.

Maybe it was the sleepless night in an uncomfortable hospital bed. Or maybe it was the man in the hallway pacing back and forth in front of her door.

Beth could hear the heals of his boots clicking with each step. Over and over and over.

Each time he passed Beth felt her eyebrows furrow a little tighter. Her eyes squinting a little narrower.

She normally wasn't easily agitated. In fact, Beth Greene was a patient, caring, and tender girl.

Even when baby Judith, The child of a family friend that she watched, would fling her food from her high chair Beth did not get annoyed. She would simply bend over and pick up the discarded cheerios, casting a smile at the mischievous baby before pouring fresh ones on to her plate.

But today was a different day. And a whole hell of a lot had happened in the last twenty four hours. She was restless and felt like complete shit. So as she heard him pass once and then two times more past her opened door she found herself pulling up out of bed in a huff.

She tugged on a cardigan that her sister Maggie had brought her from home (Being mindful of the IV sticking out of her arm, of course) and stomped her way to the open door.

She watched him pass by again and before she realized it was she sticking her head out of the door frame and sneered out

"Will you stop that?"

She watched him freeze and look over his shoulder down at her. She could see the confusion written across his face. As if he was surprised to see someone talking to him that way.

He turned then and faced her fully. His eyes a burning blue that almost, _almost_, made her want to forget the whole incident. But almost was not close enough.

"What you want, girl?" he spat out at her.

"I would like you to stop pacing up and down the hallway in front of my door like you're havin' a temper tantrum," She blurts out. Damn, she was feeling really bold today.

His face twisted from confusion to absolute annoyance. She didn't stand simply glared back up at him with eyes that were just as blue.

Beth stepped out of the hospital room pulling her IV stand along with her. His face softened a little. It wasn't pity. Beth could see that. It flicked into something else. Understanding would be a better word for it.

"If I'm annoyin' you so much then close your damn door," He breathed out. And it was like all of the energy was drained from him in that one sentence. He found the indented bench in the wall and sat down with a huff. His head falling into his hands in defeat.

"You're gonna rub your feet off if you pace so much," She commented, she followed after him her body slumping to the bench beside him. He turned his head to look at her, his hands still holding the side of his head as if he was trying to keep it on.

He examined her for a moment before Beth felt the need to speak. "You pacin' like that for any particular reason?"

She wasn't sure what had gotten into her. Maybe it was the emotional roller coaster that her life had been lately. But in mere seconds she was far from annoyed, very far from the angry girl that had stepped out that door to chew his ear off. Now she was simply Beth Greene, the girl that she was before her life fell to shit.

He groaned loudly and turned his had away from her rubbing it into his hands. When he was satisfied he leaned back, his back pressing against the wall behind him.

"I'm in a hospital ain't that reason 'nough?" He asked shrugging his arm to the scenery around them.

White walls with white floors and white ceilings and the odd scent of bleach and oatmeal hanging in the air.

Her lips pulled up at the corners in a smile.

"And what brings you to the hospital today? Come here to pace in front of my room and piss me off?"

"Yeah girl, came here just for you," He slurred it out sarcastically. His lips twitching like he wanted to smirk but they fell again, into a scowl.

Beth wondered if his face was simply frozen that way. Into a saddened scowl that pulled all of his features in a downward slant.

"My brother's here," He said simply as if that explained everything.

Beth nodded. She understood, she really did. Watching someone you love in pain, it was hard. Next to impossibly hard. Her eyes flicked to her wrist quickly. She twitched and readjusted herself before looking away.

Her eyes fell on his face. He was staring at the white wall in front of them as if it had just called him a nasty name.

"Is he alright?" She decided to ask. He turned to look at her, he seemed to look like he had forgotten that she was even sitting there.

"Yeah," He muttered, "Merle's a tough bastard." He said the last part with a bit more conviction. "Got shot and the fool is acting like it was a damn bee bite," He said shaking his head a little.

Beth wanted to ask how the hell his brother had gotten himself shot, but then decided against it. Best to leave that alone.

"Well then why you pacin' around like he's on his death bed?" She asked in confusion.

The man shook his head and looked at her fully. She felt like she was really seeing him for the first time. He was handsome. His face looked warn, his hair short and sticking up in odd directions. She felt the need to flatten it out for him. But she didn't. She simply sat there and looked at him with soft eyes.

"You wouldn't understand," He said softly. It came out as a whisper. She felt her insides melt a little and her voice nearly broke when she responded, "You don't know that."

They continued to stare at each other in silence. The clicking of shoes caught the man's attention and he looked past her and down the hall.

"Beth?" A voice hung in the air.

Beth turned to the sound. Maggie, her sister, was standing at the corner of the hallway, her eyebrows raised in a very what-did-I-walk-in-on way.

"You actually out of bed or am I seein' things?" Maggie asked, not missing a beat. She stepped forward and Beth suddenly realized how odd the pair must look right now. The man beside her leaning back against the wall and Beth leaning towards him.

She felt her skin flush but quickly swallowed it down without a second thought.

She rolled her eyes at her sister. "Ha- Ha, Maggie," Beth responded, "I can still walk."

Maggie simply shrugged at her and looked to the man next to her. Beth could see him shifting uncomfortably out of the corner of her eye.

"Whose this?" Maggie asked looking at her sister with raised eyebrows. Beth wanted to blush like crazy and tell her sister to go away for maybe ten more minutes. But she didn't.

Beth looked to the man beside her and a smile fell on her lips and in a light shrug she simply stated, "I unno."

She heard him let out a breathy laugh before standing.

He looked down at Beth with his deep blue eyes and smirked only a little before beginning to walk away.

"See you 'round, Beth," He called before stepping a few doors away and disappearing into a room that she assumed was his brother's.

Maggie looked at Beth with a shit eating grin plastered on her face. Beth began to move without looking at Maggie. "Who was that hot piece of ass?"

"Holy shit, Maggie! Stop!" Beth bellowed as Maggie giggled like a school girl behind her.

* * *

><p>Hello all<p>

I have not written a fic in a while

I also have never written a Bethyl story

SOOOO I decided why not.

Chapters are short.

I will probably post them in bursts.

I have like 6 chapters done already.

Anyywayyy who knows how this will go

It was kind of a random thing.

Also listen to the songs that I quote in the beginning.

They inspired this story.

**ALSO AGES: **

**Daryl-24**

**Beth-17**

**Merle-30**

**Maggie-22**

**Glenn-23 **


	2. Chapter 2

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"Well, I met you at the blood bank <strong>

**We were looking at the bags**

**Wondering if any of the colors**

**Matched any of the names we knew on the tags"**

**"Blood Bank" -Bon Iver **

Chapter 2

Beth was sitting by the window when she heard a soft knock at her door.

Her hair was pulled out of it's usual pony tail and fell down her back in waves of blond hair. She was allowed to change into her own clothes and the IV had been removed from her arm. They were keeping her in this room for who knew how much longer. Soon she would be moved. Moved onto the floor with all of the other crazy teenagers.

Beth looked over her shoulder at the intruder. Her mouth flew open at the sight of the man from the other day standing there leaning against the door frame. He looked a lot less messy than he had a few days before. His hair was brushed and his clothes were somewhat clean. A large plaid shit on top of a pair of black jeans. She realized she was staring like a guppy fish as she saw the look of amusement on his face.

"Hi," She said finally. God she sounded like such an idiot.

"Hi," He replied. He looked down at his feet and shifted a little before looking back up at her, his arms crossing across his chest.

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asked.

She nodded and stood from the window seat. She sunk into a pair of moccasins and followed him out the door.

They started the journey in silence. Not an awkward silence. A comfortable one. One that Beth only felt like breeching when they had made it down to the lobby of the hospital.

"How's your brother?" She asked as they passed through the main hallway. A fountain spraying in the center of it all. The hospital was incredibly nice. It had had so many renovations done in the last couple of years that it almost didn't resemble a hospital on the first floor. Not until you got to the patients' areas where everything smelt like bleach and the feeling of impending doom hung in the air.

"He's alright. Gettin' discharged soon," He stated, "The idiot didn't want to be here in the first place. So he's been begging to get out as soon as he could."

Beth nodded at that, she felt the same way. Not wanting to be trapped in a place like this. With four white walls and a television that only played day time television as company.

"You gettin' out anytime soon?" He asked. He hadn't asked her anything about herself. All he knew was that her name was Beth and she was currently a patient at Grady Memorial Hospital and was sleeping on the same floor as his dead beat brother. She didn't know him any more than he knew her. Hell she wasn't even sure what his name was.

She seemed a bit shell shocked when he asked. He shrugged it off when he saw her stiffen, "No need to tell me nothin'." And with that it was forgotten. Being with this man was as comfortable as breathing it seemed. Which now Beth felt the dire need to know his name.

They stepped out into the courtyard of the hospital. They made their way to a stone bench before Beth decided to ask. "What is your name, anyway?" She smiled at him and raised her eyebrows.

"Wouldn't that ruin the mystery?" He asked his arms coming up in a joking gesture. A grin on his face.

Beth rolled her eyes and nudged him with her good arm. "Not fair," She said, "You know my name."

"Life ain't fair, girl," He responded.

Beth groaned dramatically, "Just tell me your name!"

"Daryl," He responded finally as if it was nothing. He didn't look at her as he said, "Daryl Dixon."

Beth knew that the name should send some sort of chill of fear through her. But it didn't.

So that's who he was. The youngest Dixon. A member of the family that started and runs the town's biker gang. She _should _be afraid she _should_ stand up and walk out of the court yard and back to the comfort of her room. But the name didn't mean shit to her. It only meant one thing. It was h_is_ name and that was all that mattered.

"Name like that is no good," He said suddenly as if he was reading her mind. She shook her head sadly at him. "It's a good name," She said, "Its your name."

He looked at her in disbelief and then chuckled rubbing his face with his hand. "You ain't real, kid," He muttered.

"Ain't a kid either," She respond mocking his deep accent.

She could see the smile on his face even as he looked away from her.

Beth leaned back a little looking up. The building stood tall above her and the sky seemed to be much farther away with the four tall walls around her.

"Why you ask me to go on a walk, Daryl Dixon?" She asked suddenly surprising herself at her own boldness.

He shrugged, "Seemed like the thing to do."

She smiled at that. Yeah she was really starting to like Daryl Dixon.

* * *

><p>BoomBoom<p>

Short as shit chapter

This story is weird


	3. Chapter 3

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"I have closed the iron doors<strong>

**The things I keep**

**From Growing out**

**I know You'll hate**

**The way I feel" **

**"Iron Doors" - The lighthouse and the Whaler**

Chapter 3

Daryl Dixon was a strange man. He showed up once in a while. Sometimes twice a day. Always leaned against her door frame staring at her. Never stepping in.

Beth wondered why he did that, kept his distance in that small room. But once the thought crossed her mind she simply pushed it away. Telling herself that it didn't matter. She would stop whatever she was doing and follow him out silently. No words were needed. Everyday they walked together and everyday they peeled away layers from each other. Telling each other small things.

Beth still hadn't told him yet. That she was in the hospital because she took a piece of glass to her forearm. That she was all sorts of fucked up. But she decided that was okay. That she should be able to live in her dream world a little longer.

But the day came that her Doctor came to her room and told her that she was being moved to the teen psych ward of the hospital.

She felt her palms go sweaty and her eyes blur.

"Tomorrow," the Doctor has said when she asked when exactly. He turned after that and left her in the silence of the hospital room. The feeling of dread looming over her like a black cloud.

She felt him leaning against the door frame even before she heard his soft knock. She didn't look up. All she wanted was to cry. To run and never look back.

Beth could hear Daryl step into her room then. Her eyes remained downcast, blurring more and more with each step he took towards her.

"Beth," He said softly. And then the water works came. In full attack. Her breath hitching, her face streaking with wet tears.

"God dammit," She hissed out flicking the tears away with her fingers.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to cry," She apologized through her hitched voice. She had expected him to walk out and leave her to cry it out. But he didn't. Beth hadn't given Daryl Dixon nearly enough credit. He was a good person through and through.

He knelt in front of her slumped form and tilted her head up to look at him. He cupped her face with both hands and rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks pushing away the tears. That only made her cry more and soon enough she was off the bed and in his arms, her face pressed against his chest.

It felt like hours. He simply held her, running his hand over her head and through her pony tail every so often. When her eyes were dry and her voice found its way to her throat again she spoke, "They're moving me tomorrow."

He pulled back slightly looking down at her. His blue eyes glimmered with sadness. His voice was low and gruff as he asked, "Where?"

She couldn't look at him. He would think she was crazy. She had only just met him. In a hospital. He probably thought that she had surgery, or that she was sick. He didn't know. And Beth wasn't sure how to tell him.

Silence fell between them. Beth's breathing was uneven and Daryl's arms were loosening around her body. She felt cold suddenly from the loss of touch. But wordlessly he ran his fingers over her cheeks and through the loose pieces of hair that flew around her face.

"Where?" He asked again. His voice was so low and gravely. Beth wasn't sure how he could be so intimidating one moment and then so soft and gentle the next. She liked to pretend that she was one of the few that got to see that side of him.

Beth looked straight into his eyes as she breathed out, "The psych ward."

He didn't say anything. His eyes widened and then went back to normal straight after. He didn't want to offend her. But it happened. He had looked at her how Maggie had looked at her when she found her bleeding out on the bathroom floor. He looked at her as the nurses all had. Sweet Beth Greene. Tried to kill herself. How weak.

She knew he wouldn't understand.

Without thinking Beth pulled back and returned to her bed sitting away from him. He seemed stuck to the floor, as if it suddenly was quick sand and he was beginning to sink.

She closed her eyes and listened as he stood. The bed shifted as his weight was added to it.

"I'll come visit you," He said. His voice sounded stronger now. More assured.

She looked up at him in shock. His mouth was twitching to a grin at her shocked expression. "We're all a little nuts," he said with a short laugh. His fingers wrapped around hers and he gave them a slight squeeze.

"We all have demons," He said with a bit more seriousness.

She looked at him fully. Her eyes wide and blue. There were a lot of things that they didn't know about each other. But it didn't really matter. They were two broken people meeting by chance. Maybe it was fate.

She suddenly felt like crying all over again.

"I'm so lucky I met you Daryl Dixon."

* * *

><p>So shorttt<p>

But I wrote so many of them

I like short chapters

Light and easy to read.

lalalalal

let me know what you think?

I have no beta so it may or may not be terrible. who knows.

yatzii


	4. Chapter 4

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"Lips generous and warm<strong>

**you build me up like steps"**

**Georgia-Vance Joy**

Chapter 4

Maggie was flipping through a magazine in a chair across from Beth. Who was sitting at her desk a pink mole skin notebook opened up in front of her.

"That Dixon boy come to see you again?" Maggie asked.

It had been a week since she was moved into the psych ward. It had been working. She felt better, lighter. She wanted to contribute it to her strength as a person.

Beth had known the moment that the glass had touched her skin that she didn't want to die. But no one believed that. No one would listen. So she was here, doped up on whatever they had given her to take. She would be lying if she said it didn't help.

Daryl had been by everyday. He would stay for a few hours. He didn't knock anymore. He simply walked in when the door was open. The child psych ward was nice. All a bunch of sad teenagers. She was lucky that she hadn't been moved to the adult ward. She was almost 18. And it was a moment like this that made her glad for it. Her nurse Carol had told her stories about the adult ward and Beth had simply cringed.

"Yeah he was here yesterday," Beth replied. She looked up from the notebook that she was idling writing in to look at her older sister.

It was just Maggie and her now. Her dad had died of a heart attack just a month ago, her mom was long dead, and their brother shawn was as well. It was just Maggie and Beth. Of course Maggie had her fiancé Glenn. Who, bless his soul, took them in immediately with open arms. The first time he came to visit her in the hospital she had apologized profusely. He simply cried, like the sap he is, and told her how happy he was that she was still there with them.

Maggie's lips twitched into a grin.

"He likes you doesn't he?" She asked with a knowing look.

Beth turned red at the thought.

"He probably thinks I'm just some kid," She dismissed. "Sometimes," Beth said much softer, "He looks at me like… like he is looking in a mirror. Like he sees himself in me. You know?"

Maggie quirked her eyebrow at that.

"Baby sister you are so naive. You must not be seein' what I'm seein'." Maggie stated.

"And what are you seein'?" Beth asked curiosity getting the best of her. But before Maggie could reply Daryl was walking into the room with a brown bag in his hand.

"Speak of the devil," Maggie said under her breath. She made no move to get up and leave as she often did when Daryl walked in while she was there. Beth wondered if she did it so that they could have privacy or if she did it because the Dixon boy intimidated her.

"You talkin' 'bout me?" He asked with a smirk. He plopped the bag onto the table next to Beth's notebook.

"Nah," Beth said giving maggie a look, "She's just teasing'."

"Alright sure," Daryl said. He pulled a chair up next to Beth's and sat down his long legs stretching out. Beth could see the beginning of a bruise coming in on his hair line. But she didn't say anything about it. Not when Maggie was in the room.

"Merle and I had lunch together with some friends today," Daryl said matter of factly, "Thought I'd bring you something. The hospital food ain't worth shit."

Beth's face light up in a smile and she pulled the bag closer to her tugging it open and sighing at the smell of Chinese food.

She pulled out a case of dumplings and found herself squealing lightly.

"My favorite!" She said happily. She quickly pressed a kiss to Daryl's cheek without thinking about it and then pulled the container open.

"Thank you Daryl," Beth said warmly before popping a dumpling into her mouth.

"Ain't nothin'" He answered shrugging it off gently.

That was something that Beth noticed he did often. He would do something nice for her, like hold open a door, or surprise her with candy or a new book. And when she would go to say thank you he would shrug it off. As if it was impossible that him, big bad Daryl Dixon, could do something nice for someone.

She found it adorable and also incredibly frustrating.

Daryl looked over to Maggie and quirked an eyebrow at her magazine.

"You plannin' a wedding?" He asked. Maggie smiled, her face lighting up at the topic.

Beth groaned, "Please no. This is all she talks about." Maggie swatted her hand towards Beth who simply pulled the container of dumplings closer. "Careful where you swing there," Beth warned.

Daryl found himself laughing and Beth found herself loving the sound.

"I'm getting married matter of fact," Maggie chirped, her face still molded into a bright smile, "As soon as Beth comes home and we settle down in a new house. I'm getting married and starting a family."

Maggie smiled at Beth who returned the gesture half heartedly. Beth couldn't see herself fitting into Maggie's new life with Glenn. They would be having babies and starting their own family. She would just get in the way.

She could almost feel Daryl's gaze on her. She turned to face him, a reassuring smile on her face.

"I better get going," Maggie said suddenly. Which Beth found odd. It was Tuesday, Maggie didn't work on Tuesday and Glenn was at the pizza shop all day.

"I have shopping to do," Maggie explained. She dropped a kiss to Beth's head and waved a goodbye to Daryl before exiting the room as if her ass was on fire.

Beth couldn't help but smile as she was left alone with Daryl. She was beginning to really appreciate their alone time together.

"Gonna get to leave soon," Beth said suddenly. Daryl looked up from his hands to her eyes. She was smiling at him and suddenly his face couldn't help but mirror the expression.

"Will you come see me still?" Beth asked softly. She didn't look away from him but her hands were ringing over and over and over. "I mean like. When I'm home."

As if it was the stupidest question he was every asked, Daryl snorted and then proceeded to say, "I ain't goin' no where, girl."

Beth was suddenly very happy with her life.

* * *

><p>let me know how ya'll are feeling about this. LOVEEyou all<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"I never should have told you<strong>

**Never should have let you see inside**

**Don't want it troubling your mind**

**Won't you let it be"**

**"Georgia"- Vance Joy**

Beth wasn't sure what Daryl did in his spare time. She knew that he came to visit her on the daily and that he often showed up with mysterious bruises and sometimes spots that almost resembled blood dirtying his shirt. She knew about the biker gang, she wasn't naive. But they hadn't talked about it. Not once.

She had run her fingers over a bruise on his cheek one day. He had simply stared at her. As if she was some wild animal in the zoo and he was trying to figure out its intentions. She skimmed her fingers along his cheek and down to his jaw. He didn't flinch away but he didn't reciprocate the touch. Nor did he mention it again. He simply turned his head away when her hand fell from his face.

Today was a rough day. She wasn't feeling well. The new meds that she had been put on where making it impossible for her to get to sleep. Maggie had been super busy with her new job and so she found herself alone more often then not.

Even Daryl seemed to be keeping a distance. Instead of coming everyday she found that he was skipping some.

It had been three days since he had last stepped foot into her room.

And as he stumbled in today, closing the door behind him, all she wanted was to scream and throw punches. He had abandoned her. She had convinced herself that he was not going to come see her again.

But as her eyes fell on his battered face all anger was gone. She was up from her spot by her desk and was pulling him towards her bed.

His eyes were sunken in and his lip was split down the center. Blood dripping down his chin. He looked like shit. Like someone took a baseball bat to his face. She was shaking as she led him to the bed.

"Sorry," was all he said as he fell into her bed with a simple push of her hands.

She sat on the edge and examined his face with delicate hands.

He was staring at her, a raw emotion settled in his blue eyes. She didn't know what to say so she simply took a piece of paper towel from her bathroom and returned to his side whipping the fresh blood from his lip and from his forehead.

His hand found hers suddenly, stilling her motion of cleaning his wounds.

"You're too good for me Beth Greene," He said sadly. He sat up then and pushed her back gently.

"I shouldn't have come. It was a mistake," He was attempting to sit up, Beth could see the way his side convulsed and he was gripping at his ribs groaning in pain.

"You need to lay down," She argued pulling his free arm back to her. He didn't look at her simply looked out the window. He pulled himself away despite the pain she could see he was harboring.

He walked to the window and stared out onto the town below. Cars, like small ants, running back and forth in the street below.

"You don't want to know what I do," he said quietly after what felt like an hour of silence.

Beth stood from her bed and walked up behind him. Her small hands finding the middle of his back, in between the angel wings on his leather vest.

She leaned in her face finding a spot near his shoulder blade. He didn't push her away simply stood there looking out the window. She could feel the waves of angst rolling off of him. She wished that she could take it all in. Take away his pain.

"I've killed people," he said suddenly. "I ain't no good."

Beth felt her muscles tighten but she pushed the fear away. This was Daryl Dixon. _Her_ Daryl Dixon. Not the Daryl Dixon the outside world knew. No, this was a man that came to visit her in the hospital every day. A man who snuck her in food and told her funny stories and took her for walks and promised to never leave her side.

The Daryl she knew was no killer.

She pushed herself more firmly against his back.

"You're good," She whispered.

She felt him shake his head.

"You don't get it," He declared.

"No," She gave in, "I don't get it."

She felt Daryl pull away and without a single word he was brushing past her and out the door of her room. He was gone and he left a sense of unease and sadness behind him.

If she didn't feel like shit before than she sure did now.

—-

Maggie called her and left a message.

Beth didn't bother to listen to it. She simply laid in bed with her phone in her hand pressed against her chest.

She was staring at the ceiling in complete sadness.

It had been a long time since she felt so shitty. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it had been. It wasn't a blaring pain that seared her skin. No. The pain she felt right now was more of a dull burn. A small feeling in her chest that ached.

She laid there for what felt like hours. When she looked away from the ceiling again the sun had set almost completely outside.

She was staring out the window when she heard shuffling outside her door.

He rubbed his hands against his pants nervously. He lifted one fist to knock, the way he once did before he felt comfortable enough to simply walk in.

Beth didn't turn her head to look at him. She simply turned onto her side away from him and held out an arm signaling him to join her on the small hospital bed.

She heard the door click shut behind her and then heard the sound of shoes hitting the tile floor. She felt the bed creak with the added weight.

Then all she felt was Daryl.

His arms coming around her middle, his front tightly pressed against her back.

He didn't speak for a little while. They simply laid there, in each other's company. In silence.

When words were finally spoken it was Daryl who had found his voice.

"I'm a dick," He said roughly. Beth felt the air leave her in a sad laugh. For some reason she wanted to cry and curl into his chest like a cat. She stayed where she was, letting him take comfort in holding her to him.

"Yeah," She said simply agreeing with his declaration.

Silence fell between the two and then Beth spoke again.

"You're not that person when you're here." She whispered.

"You are simply Daryl Dixon," She continued, "You leave the rest of the shit at the door. It's just you and me, okay?"

She felt Daryl's lips press against her shoulder.

"Yeah… Just you and me."

* * *

><p><strong>they are cute as shit<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"Love<strong>

**Its the air in your mother's lungs**

**When Her fathers tore her fences down**

**Plastic bags and the Panadol was out."**

**"The darkest Side" -The middle East**

Chapter 6

The doctor had said it was time to get her adjusted to moving back into the real world. She would be moving out of the hospital and in with Maggie and Glenn on their family farm. Which was left to Maggie when their father had died.

Beth couldn't describe how she felt. A little sad and even more excited then that.

Her favorite nurse Carol had come in and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You come visit me. Whenever you need to," Carol said, pressing a piece of paper with her phone number on it into Beth's hand. Beth smiled wide and nodded happily.

She stood in the room, her hands running over the walls and over the table and the bed and every surface as if she was committing it to memory. So she could remember how it had felt to be sitting in here all day and all night.

She turned her head at the sound of shuffling at the door. Daryl was standing with his side pressed against the door frame a half smirk pulling on his lips.

Beth was amazed on how handsome that damn man could be.

She smiled wide, her eyes bright.

"I'm leaving soon," She said happily.

Daryl nodded a smile still playing on his lips. "Maggie called me to tell me," He said.

Beth wanted to laugh out loud at that. Instead she was moving across the room and jumping into his arms. He instinctively met her half way and caught her, his hands finding a spot on the back of her thighs, hoisting her legs up and around his hips.

She giggling happily against the side of his head. her arms pulled tight around his neck

He walked them further into the room and then unceremoniously dumped her onto her bed. Her _old _bed. Tonight was the last night she would be sleeping in it.

Beth giggled and sat up on her elbows looking at him with a cheeky grin.

He tucked his hands in his pockets and walked to the chair that was situated next to her bed. Glenn had moved it when he had come to visit yesterday. He was still acting like she was unable to get out of bed. She would roll her eyes at him as he tried to help make her more comfortable.

Daryl sat back into the empty chair and simply looked at her with a small grin. He ran his fingers over his chin in thought.

"What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get out of this place?" He asked.

Beth laid down on her side facing Daryl with wide thoughtful eyes. She tucked her hands under her head and hummed.

"I'm not sure," she said, "I will be going back to the family farm. Then we are going to start to pack it up to move into a smaller house." Beth scratched her head in thought.

"I will have to go back to school."

Daryl raised an eyebrow at her. "You in high school?" He asked in awe.

She nodded and bit her lip. Waiting for him to call her a damn kid again like he had once before.

He licked his lips. "I hated high school."

She sat up and looked at him fully, kicking her legs off the side of the bed.

"Did you graduate?" She asked in her normal curious fashion.

Daryl snorted, "You know me too well. Nah, dropped out when I turned 16. Merle's a terrible influence." He continued to scratch his chin in thought. "I wouldn't go back though. Hated it. Hated every asshole in school."

Beth tilted her head and smiled, "Imagine if we went to school together. Would you have hated me too?"

Daryl seemed to think about it for a moment. A smile playing on his mouth. He looked at her and she felt her cheeks start to burn.

"Could never hate you Beth," He said simply, "You're too damn good."

That was another thing she hated him saying to her. That she was too damn good. Too good for him. Too good for this world. He looked at her like she was a cup of water and he was a man who hadn't had anything to drink in days. She knew that even if he needed that cup of water, there was no way he would bring himself to take a sip of it.

"I don't like school much," She pulled at the hem of her shirt, "But, I'm almost done. I'm going to graduate in July." Her eyes brightened at the thought. "I can't wait to get out of here," She said simply as if she knew exactly where she was gonna go.

Daryl smiled a little, "You gonna leave everyone behind then? No lookin' back?"

Beth shrugged and gave her biggest smile. The one that melted his heart. The one he pretended she saved for him. "You can always come with me Mr. Dixon. Nothin' good left here anyway," she offered.

He chuckled and looked down at his feet.

"We can go someday, Beth. Anywhere you want."

The door to the room opened, interrupting their moment, and Maggie, with Glenn close behind her, came sauntering in. A look of surprise quickly melted to a warm smile on Maggie's face at the sight of Daryl in the chair beside her sister's bed.

"Hello, Dixon, Baby sister," Maggie greeted walking into the room. She held up a white bag and set it on the bed, grabbing the desk chair and pulling it beside Daryl. Glenn seemed out of place as he stood behind her a nervous smile on his face.

"What did you bring me?" Daryl asked jokingly grabbed the bag from the bed.

Beth laughed at him and pulled the bag out of his hands. "Excuse me, Mr. Dixon. I believe this is for all of us."

Maggie cut in then, "Sure is. Brought dinner. Thought you would be here so there is enough for you as well." Maggie said addressing Daryl with a wry smile. "Seems like you spend more time here than you do anywhere else," Maggie teased.

Beth swore she saw a hint of red play on Daryl's cheeks. He snorted and it was gone. "I come here for the fine dining and the amazing atmosphere, obviously," He teased. Beth laughed and Maggie joined in.

This was how Beth wanted it to always be. The four of them sitting in her room with smiles on their faces. But once they left this room Beth knew that that would change. There wouldn't be a barrier between their double lives. Not out there. Not in the real world.

She looked sadly at Daryl and as if he read her mind he simply shook his head in reasurrance. _"Nothin's gonna change" _the gesture said. But Beth knew better. She knew that after this everything was going to change.

She just hoped that she was strong enough.

* * *

><p><strong>6 chapters in one day. holy moly. <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"Those steady eyes and that<br>Ready smile  
>Can contain the turmoil<br>Been inside for a while  
>And then you'll crack<br>like us all"  
>"Fool's Gold"- The Middle East<strong>

Chapter 7

Beth was sitting on the front porch of her family farm with a frown on her face.

She didn't have to go back to school for another day or two. Maggie had told her to take as much time as she needed adjusting to being home.

If she was adjusting then she was doing a shit job at it.

She hadn't slept since she had come home. She continued to see the broken mirror in the hall bathroom on the second floor and it made her sick. She would walk by her father's old room where the door was shut and locked and she would feel the nausea creeping up her throat.

So instead of sitting inside the house organizing or helping clean for when they moved, she spent most of her time outside. When she was attempting to sleep she would walk in and lay in her bed. However, most nights she ended up laying in the front lawn, staring up at the night sky.

The Georgia air was thick and warm. It was spring and the normal heat of the south was beginning to make its way back.

Beth doodled in her mole skin journal with her back pressed up against the railing of the front porch.

It had been a few days since she had last seen Daryl. He had gone with Maggie and Glenn to pick her up from the hospital. He even followed them back to the farm. He smiled as she had walked him through the house. Showing him her room, that had yellow walls and pink blankets and pillows. She had once loved the colorful decorations but now it seemed to be too much color for her.

Daryl had given her a heads up that he wasn't going to be around for a few days. That was the first that they had mentioned the real world between them in a long time.

"Is it gang stuff?" She had asked.

He had simply snorted at her and gruffly said, "You don't know shit about no 'gang stuff.'"

She had swatted him off the front porch with a huff.

Now as she heard the familiar purr of Daryl's motorcycle making its way down the dirt path towards her house, her heart couldn't help but skip a beat... or two. She looked through the railing and caught the sight of him on his bike. It was big and bad ass and made him look like a real life thug. She had to remind herself that that was what he actually was.

With a small sigh she closed her moleskin notebook and placed it on the ground beside her. She pulled herself up and walked to the steps of the porch just in time for him to bring his bike to a stop near her home.

"Hey," She said as he stepped off his bike and made his way up to her.

"Why the long face?" He asked. She could tell that he already knew the answer.

"Been a while," She said simply. He stopped at the step below her and nodded. He was only a slight bit taller than her when he stood one step down.

"Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to make you worry," He said it so sincerely that Beth wanted to cry.

She looked at her feet and then returned her eyes up to him. "You okay?" She asked. He nodded.

"Some crazy shit happened at the Club House. I think that Merle fell and hit his head or some shit."

Beth raised her eyebrows at that, pretending that the mention of the Club House didn't make her uncomfortable. "What happened?"

Daryl sighed and scratched at his chin which Beth realized he did often when he was thinking. Which was often.

"He.. uh..," He seemed embarrased to say it, then with a short laugh he said, "The man thinks he's found Jesus."

Beth wasn't sure what to say, "Jesus?"

Daryl's lips pulled in a smirk and he looked at her with a shrug. "Ole Bastard, has officially lost his mind," He conceded. Beth couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought of the older Dixon, the leader of Angels' Wings biker gang, claiming to have found Jesus.

"I'm dyin' to meet Merle," Beth said through a smile.

Daryl seemed to think about that for a moment his finger running up and down his chin.

"How 'bout Sunday?" He asked. Beth looked at him in surprise and then nodded feverishly.

"Well since that is settled." He stepped back and notioned for her to follow him.

"You ever ridden a motorcycle?" His grin was something to behold.

Beth felt herself smiling right back at him following him down the steps to his large black bike.

Daryl pulled a helmet off of its hook on the side of the bike and handed it to Beth. She stared at it like it was a bomb about to go off. Dayl didn't notice he simply swung his leg over the bike and looked over his shoulder at her expectantly.

Beth bit her lip and looked at him. Her eyes glinted with mischief and a good amount of fear.

He rolled his eyes. "Come on girl, I know how to drive. You'll be fine," He said reassuringly. Beth shifted on both of her feet and then found herself climbing onto the back of Daryl Dixon's bike. She pulled the helmet over her head and tightened it around her chin.

"Maggie's gonna kill you when she finds out," Beth said right before Daryl started the engine.

"I would like to see her try," He called over the revving. Beth laughed whole heartedly.

Daryl smiled. He had never heard anything sweeter than her laugh as he kicked his bike up and then flew up the driveway.

* * *

><p><strong>So much. Just so much writing. This story is so strange. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's almost like a bunch of oneshots melded into one story. I don't know. <strong>

**Also I wanted to go ahead and say that I imagine young Daryl looking like Norman did in the Boondock Saints. Love that movie something awful. **

**I hope you like this story. Let me know your thoughts. I have a lot of ideas for this. I am thinking that it will be a long one especially since the chapters are so short. **


	8. Chapter 8

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading ALSO child abuse in this chapter. **

* * *

><p><strong>"I can't remember why I joined this war<br>And I can't tell you what we're fighting for"  
>"Letters Home" - Radical Face<strong>

Chapter 8

Daryl had no idea what the hell he was getting himself into.

He had let her ride on his motorcycle without really thinking much about it. He had told her that he would bring her to meet Merle for fuck's sake. He was losing his mind. This little blond teenager was making her way into his life and his heart scratching and kicking.

He had an apartment over the Club house that he stayed in with Merle and one of the other guys from the biker gang. He didn't sleep much most nights. There was too much commotion below. Always someone partying or getting fucked.

He sat on the roof a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He had gone on a ride with Beth that day. She had laughed brightly and had her arms tightly wrapped around his waist as if she was horrified to let go. He had never done anything like this before. Allow someone into his life so quickly. Especially not a girl like Beth Greene.

He could hear Merle inside fighting with Martinez about how having sex with a women and then leaving her was a fucked up thing to do. After the attack on the club house a few weeks ago Merle had been acting different. Preeching to the brothers like he was a born again christian. Daryl couldn't complain really. It was about time that Merle felt strongly about something that didn't have to do with meth or fucking women.

Daryl flicked his cigarette into the street below. He kept his knees bent and his arms hung over them.

He had the tendency to think alot about life lately. He never really had to do that before. He never had to think too strongly about his life. His dad had started the biker gang in the first place. He was raised around groups of thugs who carried around guns in the open. He learned how to shoot long before he was taught how to read properly.

His mom had hated it. She drank herself to death watching her husband and children become a bunch of fucking thugs.

Now he was starting to feel the same way. He found himself wondering how he could let himself get into all this shit.

Daryl light another cigarette.

He blamed Beth.

He knew he shouldn't but he did.

She had some how managed to nudge herself into his chest, as if there was a cavaty in his heart that was sized perfectly for her to fit. He inhaled his cigarette deeply and swore outloud as he exhaled.

Fuck pretty blond girls and their big blue eyes.

He heard the window behind him open. He turned to see Merle, his big idiot brother, standing there with a phone in his hand. "For you," He said holding the device out to Daryl.

Daryl took the phone and Merle nodded at him before retreating back into the apartment and closing the window. He continued to hear bickering and rolled his eyes as he put his cellphone to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked putting the cigarette in his mouth once again and taking a drag.

"Daryl?" The voice asked.

"Beth?"

She was crying. He could hear the uneven hitches of her breath.

"Beth," he said hanging his head and pressing the phone closer to his head.

"I can't do it," She said after a moment.

"Do what?" Daryl asked. He was tempted to get off the roof, hop on his bike, and drive to her house. But he stopped himself. He couldn't be at the beck and call of some 17 year old girl. No matter how good she was.

"This," She said as if that meant anything to him.

"I mean... not," she caught herself taking a deep breath, "Not _this_."

He wasn't really sure what was happening anymore.

"Beth. Breath. You sound like a lunatic," He added.

"I need a drink," She said simply. He felt like laughing at that. He was thinking the exact same thing.

"You at the farm?" he asked.

She mumbled an 'mhm' as her responce.

"Alright on my way."

He was a huge fucking idiot.

He had let a fucking 17 year old girl ruin his life.

She was sitting across from him on the front porch of the Green farm. A stupid smile plastered to her face. They had been drinking. He had grabbed a bottle of whatever alcohol Martinez had brought home that night. Turns out he had a huge mason far full of moonshine from some hick friend that he had met while he was up in Atlanta.

Beth Green and Moonshine.

Two things that he never thought would go together so perfectly.

He simply stared at her. Her big blue eyes shining. Her hair hanging down her shoulders in waves. He had never loved someone as much as he loved her right now.

Yeah he was totally fucked.

"You're a happy drunk," He commented as he lifted the moonshine to his lips and took a swig. It tasted like shit. Better than some damn peach shnapps that Beth had brought outside. She had found it in the cupboard. Her father didn't keep alcohol in the house Beth had confessed to him. But Maggie was really good at sneaking around.

"Not gonna let your first drink be no damn peach schnapps," He had said to her with a grimace. She simply laughed whole heartedly before covering her mouth to stop the sound.

Beth shrugged at his comment, "Yeah. Good thing I'm not an angry drunk or something." She looped a strand of hair over her finger over and over again in a mesmorizing manner.

"My dad was an angry drunk," Daryl found himself saying. Beth looked at him, her smile falling ever so slightly.

Daryl simply shook his head, "He was an asshole no matter what. But when he drank... It was like he hated everyone more than usual." Daryl scratched at the wood on the porch beside him. "Used to beat the shit out of me most nights. There was one time that.. that he had gone out with the brothers, you know the other members of the biker club, and he came back shit faced. Took a whole bottle of whiskey to the face and he was just, pounding on me. Just shoving his fists into my face and into my back. I heard my mom crying right outside." He went quiet for a moment. Studying the way Beth's face went from happy and delighted to intense and a mix of confusion.

"Merle.. he had been in juvie at the time. But he had this friend who lived next door. I guess the stupid fuck had told Merle that he would look out for me. Next thing you know there are a bunch of teenagers in the house trying to grab my dad and screaming. And I was throwing punches at nothing like an idiot. I must have hit my dad in the stomach because before you know it he was puking all over me. And I was just standing there covered in my old man's puke. Wondering what the fuck just happened."

Daryl laughed darkly. Beth didn't laugh. She simply watched him with wide sad eyes.

"Don't gotta look at me like that," He said looking up to her.

Beth leaned over and took the moonshine from beside him and lifted the cup to her lips. She took a long swig and coughed a little when she swallowed it down.

"My dad was a drunk," She said looking up at him finally. "Never hit us or anything. He used to disappear for days. After my mom died..." she went quiet and then looked at him with a sad smile.

"It's just you and me Daryl. You and me against everyone else. I'm yours. If you'll have me."

Maybe it was the alcohol in his system. Or maybe it was the way she was looking at him like he was the greatest man alive.

He opened his mouth and without really thinking said,

"I love you something awful Beth Greene."

He really fucking did.

* * *

><p><strong>I like this chapter a lot. (:<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are known around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues. _

_OR,_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading ALSO child abuse in this chapter. **

* * *

><p><strong>"And now, You would not believe the things I miss<br>It's all the little things that fill that list  
>Like playin' with the dogs<br>And helpin' father chop the wood behind the fence."  
>"Letters Home" - Radical Face<strong>

Chapter 9

Beth was sitting with her mouth hanging open in awe.

She didn't register Daryl standing up from his spot on the porch and making his way to his bike until it was almost too late.

"Wa... Wait!" She yelled after him standing up and swaying a little. She was really drunk. So drunk that she stumbled as she made her way down the steps of the front porch after him.

"You can't leave!" She called as Daryl mounted his bike.

He rubbed his hands over his eyes over and over before looking at her.

"I fucked up, Beth," He said finally.

She felt the anger curling in her. She was about to break.

"Oh so fucking up is letting someone get too close?!" She screamed. "Get off the bike Daryl!" She yelled lifting her arm to grab him and pull him back.

He brushed her off but removed himself from the bike anyway.

"You're drunk you can't just go driving off into the night! Especially not after what you just said!" She realized that she was shouting incredibly loud. But she didn't care. She didn't care if Maggie and Glenn came running outside right now with alarmed looks on their faces. All she cared about was the stupid man standing in front of her.

"This can't happen!" He said gesturing at the space between them. "You're a damn kid!" He said rubbing his hands through his hair and pacing back and forth in front of her.

"That's a stupid excuse and you know it! You can't push people away just because you're scared!"

He stopped pacing and pointed at her accusingly. "What the fuck do you want from me, Beth? I should have never asked you to go on a walk! I should have left you alone!" He bellowed angrily. "You don't know shit 'bout me, girl!" He yelled.

Beth shook her head, tears burning the back of her eyes. But she wasn't weak. No, she wouldn't cry in front of him.

"I want you to stop acting like you're the big bad wolf! Like you're afraid I'll break if you touch me! Stop pretending you're this terrible person! It's bullshit!" She yelled at him.

He stepped back towards his bike mumbling something along the lines of '_this_ is bullshit'.

Beth stepped forward and grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He didn't fight her as she pulled him across the front lawn and to the porch. He didn't flinch away as she opened the front door and shoved him inside. The bottle of moonshine forgotten behind them.

"You can't leave," She said a bit softer than her earlier screaming.

He shook his head, "Can't stay, Beth."

"That's bullshit, Daryl and you know it," She said pushing him towards the couch.

He didn't push against her and for that Beth was thankful. She was afraid that he would crack again and that he would run out the house screaming his head off.

"I want you to stay. You're drunk and you're angry and I get it! You don't want anyone to think that you're a big softy. That tough as nails Daryl Dixon has finally let someone into his life. I can play pretend. You know that! We did it everyday in the hospital! We closed our eyes and pretended that everything outside of there didn't matter. But you can't keep this up forever! I am not going to let you push me away!" Her voice was raising again with each word. He opened his mouth to protest and she pushed him down his back falling onto the couch in defeat.

"I love you too, you stupid man!" She yelled smacking his arm, "Now close your damn eyes and go to sleep!" She yelled.

The stairs creaked as Maggie came running down them. Beth groaned out in frustration as the older Greene girl stood at the arch of the living room with a look of confusion on her face. Not long after she appeared did Glenn come tumbling into the room wearing a pair of Scooby Doo pajama bottoms. Beth would have laughed if the situation was not so tense.

Beth saw Daryl slump out of the corner of her eye but she didn't remove her gaze from Maggie.

"What the actual fuck is going on?" Maggie asked with annoyance.

Daryl didn't bother to answer so Beth did for him, "Daryl's drunk and keeps trying to leave!"

He spoke up to respond to that, "Oh, just keep the fact that you're just as shit faced to yourself why don't you!"

Maggie's arms went up in the air, "WHAT?" she yelled.

"Bethany Anne Greene you go straight to your room right now!" Maggie hollered pointing towards the stairs. Beth hesitated and that caused Maggie to blurt out a rough, "GO!" Soon Beth was giving a backwards glance to Daryl and hurring out of the room and up the stairs.

"And you!" Maggie yelled pointing to Daryl, "Lay the fuck down. Close your eyes and go to sleep! You ain't leaving." She went to leave the room before she turned around, "On second thought you go upstairs too! Take the guest room next to mine! I want to make sure I know you ain't gonna sneak out in the middle of the night." With that Maggie was out of the room and rushing up the stairs leaving Glenn and Daryl standing in shocked silence.

Glenn ran his hands through his black hair before saying, "Those Greene girls are a real pain in the ass, aren't they?"

Daryl wanted to laugh but instead he grunted in response and mumbled, "They're gonna be the death of me."

xxxxxXxxxXxxxxXxxxx

Daryl woke up in an unfamiliar bed in a house with bright green wallpaper.

To say he was disoriented was an understatement. He was facing the wall with his back turned towards the rest of the room. We went to turn and look around and realized that he was not alone.

Curled up in a ball with her face pressed against his back was little Beth Greene. Her hair laying around her head in a halo. Her hands curled up between them holding the back of Daryl's black shirt tightly.

He laid back in defeat not wanted to disturb her comfortable sleep. Had she crawled into bed with him in the middle of the night? He wasn't really sure but the throbbing headache and sore throat told him that there was a lot of drinking and screaming the night before. He remembered telling her he loved her and then remembered the rest of the night going to shit.

He rubbed his hands up and down his face.

This family was going to kill him.

"Well, good morning," He heard a voice say behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and over Beth, to see Maggie leaning against the door frame a cup of hot coffee in her hand.

His arms went up in the air in defeat. He gestured to the sleeping girl beside him, "She came here on her own accord," He said defensively.

Maggie shrugged, "I know. I heard her in the middle of the night. I stayed up to make sure you didn't leave. When I heard her sneak in here I knew that you would stay put." She took a sip of her coffee a smirk playing on her lips.

Daryl dropped his arms then. He felt Beth shift beside him and it caused him to stiffen up.

"You're a part of this family Daryl Dixon," Maggie said suddenly causing his eyes to snap up to her. She stood up straight and continued to look at him. "Our mom and our brother Shawn were hit by a drunk driver," She said gesturing to Beth as she said our, "It would break her heart for that to happen to you too."

Maggie turned to leave before looking over her shoulder and saying, "Breakfast is downstairs whenever you're ready."

With that Daryl was left in the silence of the guest bedroom. The idea of being important to someone other than Merle causing a dull ache to find its way into his heart.

* * *

><p><strong>fluffy cuteness<strong>

**I wanted Daryl to be younger in this story because I like the idea of Beth meeting him before he was REALLY cold to the world. I have a lot of ideas for this story and I'm super excited. Let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"And I, I never understood what was at stake<br>I never thought your love was worth its wait  
>Well now you've come and gone<br>I finally worked it out  
>I worked it out."<br>"Georgia"- Vance Joy**

Chapter 10

Daryl was completely unsurprised when Merle and Beth hit it off. They were like two peas in a pod.

Daryl had picked Beth up form school that afternoon as he had promised her and Maggie that he would do the night before. She looked tired and defeated as she made her way up to his truck.

Her hands had run over the sleeves of her forearm in thought as she said, "Everyone treated me differently. Looked at me like I was crazy. And if they didn't think I was crazy then they would look at me with pity." She huffed and mockingly said, "Poor weak little Beth Greene."

Daryl had simply pulled her hand into his and squeezed it.

Beth was supposed to have met Merle the day before as Daryl had promised. But there was a meeting at the club house about some sort of major job that they couldn't put off. Daryl had apologized on the phone and promised tomorrow.

Now it was tomorrow and he couldn't help but think how out of place the blond girl looked sitting in at the bar of a biker gang's club house.

Her white sundress hanging off of her thin shoulders in puffs of soft fabric. Her clean brown cowboy boots clicking against the legs of the stool she was sitting on as she swung her legs back and forth. He rubbed his chin in thought. How had he managed to have a girl like that find interest in a guy like him?

Merle was leaning on the other side of the bar counter a smile on his face as Beth talked animatedly about school and how it was complete bullshit.

"One of the teachers, Mrs. Grimes, kept looking at me with puppy dog eyes. And whenever I caught her doing it she was smile and as if I was okay!" Beth huffed dramatically, "I wanted to flip her off and be done with it."

Daryl found himself smirking at that. His old brother would have told Beth to tell the bitch to go fuck herself. But instead what came out of his mouth was nothing short of inspiring.

"They care about you, baby doll," He said his pet name for her was equal parts sweet and annoying, "They want to make sure you're gonna be alright. They jus' don't get it is all." Merle said thoughtfully. He leaned back and pulled a cup out of the stack on the back of the bar. He put some ice in it and then filled it with soda and passed it across the bar counter to Beth.

"You gotta cut 'em some slack, kiddo," He said, "Most people don' know how to deal with heavy shit. You jus' gotta show 'em how strong you are."

Daryl rolled his eyes. What the fuck happened to his brother.

He stood from the table in the middle of the room and walked up to the bar, sliding into the stool beside Beth. She looked up at him with a soft smile on her face. One that he couldn't help but return.

"You're a smart man, Merle Dixon," She said with a smile as she sipped her soda. Merle laughed, "I wasn' always."

He turned and pulled another glass from behind him. Beth wondered if he did it just so that he could have something to do with his hands.

"I was a jack ass, a giant womanizing drug addicted asshole," Merle shrugged as if it was nothing, "Sometimes it takes one moment to realize the truth 'bout life."

Beth tilted her head, "What did you realize?"

He put the glass down on the counter and leaned on it with both of his arms. "As I was layin' in the hospital with a bullet in my chest I realized that life is damn short and you can't spend it on your death bed. Gotta cut out all the shit and keep goin'." He lifted himself up and continued to clean the glasses behind him.

Daryl thought that that had to be the smartest shit Merle had ever said.

"Nothin' like a near death experience to make you think about life and shit," Merle said simply.

Beth nodded in agreement.

It made so much sense in that moment why Beth Greene and his idiot brother Merle Dixon got along so swimmingly. They both lived in the same hospital not two doors away from each other after almost dying. Both bleeding out onto the floor. Now they were both here, breathing, walking, talking. Daryl could have slapped himself he was so shocked he hadn't put it together before. They were cut from the same cloth.

The front door of the club house was thrown open and Daryl found himself jumping from his stool and standing infront of Beth defensively. He didn't relax when he saw that it was just other brothers from the club he only took a seat in the stool beside Beth and scooted a little too close to her their arms pressed completely together.

"Hey! Both Dixons in the same place! Haven't seen that in a while!" a larger black man said with a grin across his face. "Tyreese," Merle greeted with a laugh, he reached his arm across the bar and slapped Tyrees' hand.

"I would also like the commend the fact that Merle hasn't used one derogatory term towards T-dog or I in a week," Tyresse laughed and pointed at Merle, "That gun shot did you real good."

Merle shrugged and returned to the end of the bar pulling up glasses and pouring everyone drinks.

Tyreese was accompanied by two other males. A hispanic man that introduced himself as Martinez to Beth and a male that had a look of disgust and annoyance on his face as he looked down at Beth. "This grumpy bastard is Ed," Martinez said patting Ed on the shoulder. The man pushed his hand off and sauntered off to the corner of the room.

Daryl leaned towards Beth and whispered in her ear, "Stay away from him."

Everyone settled at the bar and chatted. No mention of motorcycle business or murder or drugs. Daryl's hand found its way to Beth's thigh and she curled her fingers around his.

When the place really began to fill with people Daryl tugged Beth to follow him out the door. Merle smacked a good bye kiss on Beth's head and told his 'future-sister-in-law' to come and see him again. She promised she would as Daryl nearly dragged her out of the clubhouse. A smile on his face as they got into his truck and he drove her back to the farm.

"Thank you," She said finally as she unbuckled her seatbelt in front of her house.

He looked at her with confusion. "For what?" He asked leaning back in his seat to look at her.

"For everything," she whispered.

Beth leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

He pressed his hands to her cheeks and held her there. Relishing in the feel of her soft lips on his.

She pulled back a little and and leaned her forehead against his.

"I love you Daryl Dixon," she whispered her breath running against his skin.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

and like a breath of fresh air she was gone. Smiling over her shoulder at him as she made her way to the front porch.

He drove home with a smile on his face. Hoping that the happiness would last.


	11. Chapter 11

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"And she woke up in a cold sweat on the floor<br>Next to a family portrait drawn when you were four  
>And beside a jar of two cent coins that are no good no more"<br>"Blood"- The Middle East**

Chapter 11

Beth got a job.

She had never worked an honest day in her life. Well technically she had. Her father used to put her to work on the farm. But that consisted of cleaning up after the horses, collecting eggs, and feeding chickens. She had never had a real life job before. Not one where you got a paycheck at the end of the week.

The family owned convenience store that had hired her was down the street from her house and conveniently around the corner from the shop that Daryl worked at. When she told him he had smirked at her, "You get that job so you can stalk me when I'm workin', girl?" She simply pinched his cheek and then kissed him until she couldn't breath anymore.

She was training under a girl named Sasha who had a heart of complete gold. Every time Beth made a mistake Sasha would blow it off saying that it happens to everyone. Even when Beth forgot to give a costumer his change Sasha simply laughed it off.

"My first day here I forgot to have one costumer pay. He walked out with 3 packs of cigarettes and a bottle of Dr Pepper." Beth had laughed at that. She had also put that in the back of her head so that she would never make that mistake.

She had only been working an hour and it was going terribly.

"I'm not made to be a cashier," Beth said with a heavy sigh after hitting cash instead of credit card four times in a row.

"No one is made to be a cashier," Sasha said with a shrug, "It's what you do until something better comes around."

Beth thought that that had to have been the smartest thing she had heard all day.

She was sweeping the front entrance when the door dinged open startling her to attention. She turned to greet the costumer and the words seemed to stick in her throat. He was tall and intimidating with an eye patch covering his left eye.

"Welcome," She heard Sasha say from behind the register.

The man didn't look at her as he smiled and said, "Lovely day." His uncovered eye never left Beth as he walked into the store and disappeared down an aisle.

When she was convinced that he was out of ear shot she turned to Sasha.

"He is one scary bastard," her coworker said under her breath, "This is a small town and I've never seen him before."

Sasha had a look of mild curiousity on her face. It might have been the lack of interesting events at the store today that had made the girl incredibly interested in the eye patch wielding man.

Beth returned her gaze to the aisle that the man had gone down. It could be nothing. She could be over reacting. But the way that he had looked at her made her want to crawl out of her skin and run for the hills.

When he reappeared with a bottle of soda in his hand his eyes found Beth's again. He gave her a smile as if he knew something that she didn't.

He finished paying for his soda and went to the door. He turned to look at Beth with his hand on the door handle that horrible smile still plastered on his face, "see you soon." He left the store with a ding.

Beth looked at Sasha with her mouth agape.

"Well that was creepy as fuck," Sasha said before returning to cleaning the counter.

She finished the shift with a feeling of unease hanging over her head.

Maggie picked her up at 7, an excited smile on her face.

"What's got you grinning like an idiot?" Beth asked as she slipped into her sister's car.

"Glenn and I found the perfect house!" She yelled unable to contain her enthusiasm at the prospect.

Beth wasn't sure if she should be so let down by that statement.

"So we're gonna leave the farm soon?" Beth asked in a small voice. She was fidgting with the hem of her work shirt. It was a bright blue with a yellow smiley face over the left breast.

Maggie caught on to her discomfort and sighed sadly. "We can't afford it, Beth. Daddy was the one who knew how to take care of that farm. How to turn it into a business. That ain't us. We have to move on."

Beth nodded her head. She was sad about the idea of leaving her childhood home, but Maggie was right. There was no way that two, barely adult, girls could take care of a giant farm. Hell, Maggie had failed out of business college she was so bad at it.

Beth stuck her face against the window of the car watching as they drove past Daryl's work to get home.

"You think it'll be good?" Beth asked softly, "When we move, I mean... do you think we'll be good?"

Maggie was silent for a moment taking in the question and letting it sit in her head.

"Yeah," She finally said, "We will be better than good."

Beth laid awake that night. Her eyes staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her mind playing over the day.

Creepy eye patch man, too many mistakes, moving out of farm.

She rolled over and grabbed her phone from the side of her bed hitting and holding down 2. The phone rang and rang until a click was heard on the other end.

"Beth?" A voice asked over the line. _His_ voice.

"Hi," She said lamely.

She heard Daryl laugh at her.

"You call just to hear my voice?" He asked. She could hear him breathing in a cigarette. Her lips quirked.

"Yeah," She said simply, "Yeah I did."

She closed her eyes and kept the phone to her ear as he talked about nothing. Merle found a homeless dog and is now keeping him in the house, the club house has been crazy with work, the garage was just as busy.

"What kind of dog?" She finally asked.

"No idea. Some mutt with one eye."

Beth stiffened at that. One eye.

"Beth?" Daryl asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah," She whispered, "You think you can take care of a dog?" She said it to distract herself.

"You don't think I can take care of a dumb dog?"

"That there is the problem, Mr. Dixon. Calling it a _dumb dog._"

Beth talked to Daryl until she was yawning.

"Go to sleep, girl," he said, "You can tell me why you felt the need to keep me on the phone for 2 hours tomorrow."

They hung up and she placed her phone back to its spot on the table next to her bed.

She felt a little better after hearing Daryl's voice. But all she could see when she closed her eyes was the look of that man as if he was planning on eating her alive.

* * *

><p><strong>its the govena! I always say his name in my head in a british accent, no idea why.<br>Any way, this chapter was kind of eh for me. But I like Beth being Beth and Beth being domestic and Beth calling Daryl just because she wants to hear his voice. and I just really like Beth.  
>short-ish chapter. Until next time. Bye y'all. <strong>

**let me know what you think (:**


	12. Chapter 12

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"It was the only woman you ever loved<br>That got burnt by the sun too often when she was young  
>And the cancer spread and it ran into her body and her blood<br>And there's nothing you can do about it now."  
>"Blood"- The Middle East<strong>

Chapter 12

Three very important things had happened in one day, today.

Beth was officially an adult. 18 years old and smiling about it. Mainly because now Daryl couldn't bitch about how young she was.

Second, Maggie had put the down payment on the new house. The farm would officially go on the market in less than a week.

And lastly she skipped school for the first time in her life.

Beth hadn't even made it up the driveway to head towards her bus stop when she saw Daryl sitting on his bike at the top of the road.

He smiled at her cheekily as she made her way up the hill.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, "Isn't it against nature for a Dixon to be up before eleven."

"Very funny," He said with a wide childish grin on his face. He kept staring at her with his blue eyes and it was making her stomach flip all over the place.

"Okay what is with that grin," She said adjusting her backpack on her shoulders.

"Oh, you know," He said jokingly, "Just my girl's birthday is all. And," He pointed at her with seriousness, "What kind of guy would I be if I let her go to school on her 18th birthday?"

Beth's mouth fell open. God this had to be the 100th time she stared at him looking like a damn guppy fish.

"I have never skipped school!" She blurted, "I am certainly not going to start now."

"Get on the damn bike Bethany Anne," He laughed out and handed her the helmet that he kept on his bike at all times. The one that he kept because more often then not Beth ended up tucked in the seat behind him.

Beth ran her hands over the helmet waging an internal battle. Daryl could see her face flicking between things and she shuffled on her feet.

"Oh... fuck it," She said in defeat pulling on the helmet and mounting the bike behind the terrible influence that was her boyfriend.

Daryl laughed as he started the engine and kicked the bike up taking off down the road. They passed her school bus, and Beth couldn't help but giggling when the two of them flipped it off.

xxxxXXXxxxxXXX

"First order of business as an official 18 year old," Daryl said seriously acting like a military drill sargeant. They were standing in a gas station a town over after having driven around in circles for what felt like half of the day. It was already noon and Daryl had simply pulled into taco bell next door and ordered enough food to feed an army. They ended up throwing out half of it. They were going to get back on the bike and continue their adventure when he caught sight of the gas station next door. A brilliant idea coming to his mind.

Daryl pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Beth. "Go up to the cashier and buy a pack of cigarettes," He said.

Beth nodded, "Yes sir, Mr. Dixon." She walked up to the cashier who was watching them with mild amusement. Beth opened her mouth to speak and then turned on her heel to Daryl. "What kind of cigarettes?" She asked nervously.

"Marb reds," He responded with a smile on his face.

She bought a pack of cigarettes and showed off her ID to the man behind the counter, who only smiled knowingly.

Beth stepped back and handed Daryl his cigarettes and his change.

"Now what else do 18 year olds do, Mr. Dixon?" She asked as they exited the store.

"There ain't much else. You gotta wait for the other stuff," He said with a shrug as he opened the pack and tossed the plastic cover in the trash.

"What other stuff?" Beth asked as she went and leaned onto his bike as he pulled out a cigarette and lite it.

"Like graduatin' and stuff. And movin' out, and adult things," He shrugged, "18 ain't as exciting as 21." Daryl took another drag of his cigarette and leaned against the brick wall of the store.

"Well seeing as I have already been drunk, 21 doesn't look as exciting either," Beth said simply kicking up dust in the parking lot.

Daryl laughed and then dropped his cigarette to the ground stepping it out.

Beth looked at him with a raised eyebrow and pointed out, "Waisted one." She did that often. Whenever he got distracted and smoked two drags of a cigarette and put it out to go do something else. She would mumbled waisted one. She wasn't actually keeping track, but the amount of times that she had said it makes her think that he has waisted more than one pack.

Daryl shrugged and gently moved her away from his bike so he could get on. She slipped on after him tucking her arms around his waist.

"Where to?" She asked.

"Strip club," Daryl said suddenly. She felt her mouth fall open but she didn't get a chance to protest before he was taking off down the road.

Daryl wasn't actually going to bring her to a strip club. He had promised Maggie that he would distract her for most of the day and then bring her to some resturaunt in town for a 'surprise!' dinner.

The longer he could distract her the better.

They pulled off the highway and onto a secluded road and just drove for a while. Beth's hands curling into his plaid shirt. He found the street that he wanted and pulled onto it, kicking up dust as he went. He creeped to a halt in front of a small path in the woods.

He cut the engine and Beth bounced off.

"What a weird strip club," She mocked, a smile on her face.

"Scared the shit out'a you right?" He asked with a grin.

"I was shaking in my boots," she said with a laugh.

Daryl started walking into the woods and took a second glance back at her to say a simply, "C'mon."

They walked for a while in silence. Beth's fingers curling around Daryl's loosely as they went over fallen trees and holes in the ground.

"Went huntin' alot when I was younger. Found this place by accident," He pulled her away from the path and into the woods which was thicker and much more difficult to navigate through.

When Beth was sweating and thoroughly swore they had finally made it to their destination. It was very much worth it.

An open field with two trees growing in the center. It seemed to be untouched, tall cat tails blowing in the wind gently.

She looked at him as if he had put this field there just for her. He would be lying if that face didn't send a shot of pride through him.

She ventured forward and fell unceremoniously to the ground her arms and legs stretched out around her.

Daryl joined her, falling down in the same manner that she had. It caused a bubbly laugh to fall from her lips.

She looked at him with her bright blue eyes and leaned up on her elbows pressing her lips to his.

He was never going to get used to it. The sensation of Beth. The looks that she gave him, the way her lips felt pressed against his.

Her hand went to his face and her thumb rubbed the line of his jaw over and over.

They hadn't gone farther than kissing. Hell they hadn't even really defined what was going on between them. He caught himself reffereing to her as 'his girl' in conversations and he had once overheard her explaining to her coworker that he was her 'own personal redneck.'

But defining it was the least of their worries. Because it really was just them. Against all odds.

"You and me," She had said. And he believed it.

He gripped her hips and pulled her onto of him. He felt her smile against his mouth as they kissed lazily. Tongues against tongues, lips against lips. It lasted for what felt like hours. And when it came to a stop Daryl checked his watch.

"Well shit," He said Pushing her up with his hands on her hips, "We're late."

"Late for what?" Beth asked as she straightened out her clothing.

"You're surprised birthday din... oh fuck," he said covering his mouth with his hand.

Beth laughed at him whole heartedly and didn't stop all the way back to the bike.

* * *

><p><strong>super cute wow<strong>

**don't worry the govena has not been forgotten. he is lurking in the shadows like an animal hunting his prey. He is going to fuck shit up for them. Also next chapter is where it starts. All the fun gang stuff. Boooyeahhhh. **

**Let me know what you think! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"You're the reason that I feel so strong<br>The reason that I'm hanging on."  
>"Mess is mine"- Vance Joy<strong>

Chapter 12

She spent a lot of her afternoons in Daryl's apartment.

At first he didn't want to have her over too often. Complaining about his dumb gangster friends. To which Beth laughed and told him that she loved his gangster friends, especially his Jesus loving gangster brother.

So, it had become a routine. If she didn't have work Daryl would come to the school and pick her up. He always took the truck with him only because he feared the looks that the odd couple would get if he came in on a motorcycle.

Beth was laying in her usual spot on the couch. Her legs laying over Daryl's. He ran his thumb over her jean covered knee absently. He had been acting off all day. Smoking more than usual and only grunting responses when he usual would be more talkative.

She didn't want to pry too much. He had already brushed her off in the truck when she asked what was bothering him. So she simply let it be.

But when Merle came barreling into the apartment screaming something along the lines of "those no good sonnofabitch Woodbury fuckers" she knew that her questions would be answered.

Merle threw his shit on the floor by the door and slammed it shut.

"That fuckin' scumbag Governor paid me a visit!" He yelled before he looked over and saw Beth sitting on the couch. Her face was filled with questions.

He pointed a finger at her accusingly and said, "She needs to leave! Now!"

Daryl sat up at that brushing Beth's legs off of his gently.

"The fuck happened now, Merle?" He asked.

"You want her to hear! If not then you best be takin' her home!" Merle dismissed angrilly.

Beth decided to speak, "What's going on?" Her voice sunded small compared to Merle's angry bellowing. She looked back and forth between the two brothers.

"You don't fuckin' want to know! You're a damn kid!" Merle yelled.

"Ain't no damn kid!" She countered, mocking his drawl.

"You wanna know the truth!?" Merle yelled stepping towards her. She saw Daryl go on the defense next to her.

"Merle. Don't." Daryl pleaded but it went to deaf ears.

"We smuggle guns! We smuggle drugs!" Merle began, "And now some no good assholes from Atlanta want us smugglin' girls!"

Beth's breath caught in her throat. "Like... trafficking?" She asked in a whisper, "Are you gonna..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Fuck no!" Merle yelled throwing his arms in all directions.

"Don't want to be like them fuckers! Kidnappin' innocent girls off the street! They want us to take the girls they have down to Mexico for them! Fuckin' bullshit," Merle kicked over one of the kitchen chairs in anger, "Said if we don't they would hurt us and our own."

Beth turned to Daryl as his muscles visibly tightened.

"What do you mean your own?" Beth asked breathlessly looking back to Merle.

"People like you, girl!" Merle bellowed, "They'll kill you! Anyone our brothers care 'bout."

He fell into the arm chair across from the couch and let his head fall into his hands.

Everyone was silent. A deep fear setting in them.

"So... you have no choice?" Beth whispered out. Her breath was coming in uneven.

Merle didn't respond so Daryl did for him.

"Ain't gonna let nothin' happen to you," He said his eyes falling away from her.

"So you're going to help those bastards!" Beth yelled, finding her voice, "You're gonna help them drag innocent girls into the sex trade! Are you serious?" She stood from her spot on the couch and made a move for the door. Daryl made a move to reach for her.

She pulled back, causing him to flinch.

"No! You can't! Call the police! Do somethin'!" She begged.

"What and get all of our asses thrown in jail?" Merle asked darkly.

"Better than ruinin' little girls' lives," Beth said.

Daryl didn't look at her.

Merle stood form the chair then.

"You'll never see us again!" He yelled gesturing between himself and his distraught brother, "You ain't _never_ gonna see us again!"

Beth felt hot tears forming in her eyes but she pushed them back. She was strong enough for all of them. She knew she had to be.

"Please don't," She pleaded her voice cracking, "I would rather die then know that you did this to protect me."

Daryl finally looked at her then. His eyes mirroring her sadness.

He stepped forward and pulled her against him. She didn't flinch away this time causing him to let out a breath of relief. She simply tucked herself into his chest, her arms going around his waist.

She heard Merle shuffling by the door behind her.

"Where you goin'?" Daryl asked his throat vibrating against Beth's skull.

"To tell them to go fuck themselves," and with that the door slammed shut.

Daryl didn't release Beth from his grip, he squeezed her a little tighter.

Beth pulled back, just enough so that she could look into his eyes.

"I don't want to think about the fact that you would do something like that for me," She said softly. The tears finally began to slip from her eyes and she shook her head, "No one person is worth a hand full of lives."

He nodded his eyes falling to the space between them. Anywhere but her eyes.

"Look at me," She pleaded moving her hand from around his waist to place on his cheek and firmly turn his face up to hers.

His blue eyes were dark with sadness.

"Do anythin' for you, Beth," he said softly his voice a deep drawl.

"That's a scary thought," She whispered.

She saw his lips tugging upwards.

"Ain't gonna do that," He said, "No we can take care of ourselves. Ain't no Woodbury bastards gonna take you from me."

Beth nodded. She slipped her hands down from his jaw to fall onto his chest. She nuzzled her face against his chest and breathed in deeply. He smelt like leather and gasoline and woods.

"Is that why you were upset today?" She asked gently.

He shook his head.

She looked up at him again.

"What's wrong, Daryl?"

He didn't respond. He pulled himself from her embrace and bent over to pick up her backpack that was laying on the ground by the couch.

"Let me take you home," He said dropping the subject.

Beth took her bag from his hand and watched as he walked into the kitchen area and grabbed his keys from off of the counter.

"We gonna talk about this?" She said not moving from her spot.

"No today."

He made his way to the door and signalled her to follow him.

Beth did.

The car ride was silent.

And as she walked into her new house in a new area of town she felt her heart fall to the floor. She followed it. Slumping into a pile of flesh and cloth by the front door.

_"Ain't no Woodbury bastards gonna take you away from me."_

Something told her that the only thing that was going to push Beth away from Daryl was himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Lots of feels this chapter. <strong>

**let me know what you think**

**also I do not have a beta or anything so spelling errors slip through the cracks sometimes.**

**don't be rude about it**

**just simply let me know. I know the definition and difference between waist and waste. just a small error. I ain't no kid, yo. **

**Love you all! Thank you for all of the reviews and the love! 3**


	14. Chapter 14

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"And I am always reminded of lies<br>That we told, but never meant  
>And at night when I still hear you grin<br>Like an echo sounding from my sins  
>Come on, let me in."<br>"Echoes"- Radical Face**

Chapter 14

She hadn't talked to Daryl in a few days.

She would pick up her phone and stare at it thinking about calling him so she could hear his voice. So she could tell him she loved him. But something kept her from calling him. He would make the first move when he was ready.

She found herself rubbing her hand over her bare forearm, where the scares were now white and raised above her skin like small hills. Sasha had caught her doing it one day at work and asked in a quiet voice, "What changed your mind?"

She flashed to a lot of things at that question. To Maggie, to Glenn, to her father and the way he looked at her with big loving eyes, and she even saw Daryl looking at her with a stupid grin on his face as he told her he loved her on the front porch of her family farm, drunk off of moonshine.

"I was stronger than that," She said simply and shrugged.

Sasha had smiled and placed her hand on the skin of Beth's forearm. Her palm brushing against the raised skin. Beth had decided that Sasha was one the good ones.

They were closing tonight. It had been dreadfully boring. Not many customers and Beth found herself idly cleaning things and dusting instead of doing actual work.

Sasha had slipped into the back room to call her brother to come get her because they were going to close early, when the door opened causing the bell to ring.

The sound filled the silence of the small store like a gun shot.

Beth turned from her spot by one of the shelves and felt her heart fall to the floor.

He was standing there with the same ominous look that he had given her when he first came in.

Black eye-patch running across his pale skin.

She heard it before she saw it. The door close and then click shut as he locked it behind him.

She should have screamed to Sasha but nothing would come out.

"I gave them a choice," He said as he stepped closer to where Beth stood. Her arms and legs shaking.

"Those Dixon boys never were as smart as their father," He said thoughtfully, never taking his eyes off of her.

"I warned them... even gave them a chance to rethink their decision. Stubborn brats is what they are."

Beth stepped away from him when the back door flew open. She watched in horror as Sasha was dragged out of the back room duct tape slapped across her face.

Beth had to hand it to her friend, she looked like she had put up a fight. One of the men dragging her had a nasty cut across his cheek from where she must have hit him with something heavy. Sasha probably would have one in a fight if they weren't 6 feet tall and a couple hundred pounds.

Sasha had a glare in her eyes as she looked to the man with the eye patch.

"You know why I don't get along with those Dixon boys?" The man asked suddenly taking back Beth's attention. She looked at him and shook her head gently.

He lifted his hand and pointed to his covered eye.

"Foolish little shits," He said, "Tried their best to be tough as nails. Our two groups never did get along but we coexisted. The younger one did this to me when he was 14." The man's face twisted into a smile, "Never held him accountable. Thought that it was cute really."

Beth felt a shiver go down her spine. Two men came beside her. She felt the room go cold. She wanted to flee but her feet were stuck to the ground.

"Thought that we could work something out. Live in harmony," The man said, "Think they are better men then their father was. Didn't do the same things that he had done. They wanted to _change_." He pointed a finger to Beth, "Blame you for that, little girl." He nodded and the two men beside her gripped her arms tightly. One of them shoved a sock into her mouth and she tried to pull away in protest. But it didn't work she heard the familiar sound of duct tape being ripped and soon a big hand was slapping over her mouth placing the harsh material against her soft skin.

"We are just gonna scare them a little," The man with the eye patch said with an evil grin, "Don't be afraid."

And with that a bag was thrown over her head and she was shrouded in darkness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daryl felt incredibly uneasy.

He was standing in a warehouse with Merle and some of his men in Atlanta.

They were going to meet the Woodbury people again. Tell them for the last time that they weren't going to do it. Protection and 'peace' be damned.

Something was not sitting well in his gut.

He wanted to go back to Beth, tell her he loved her more than anything, crawl into bed with her, hold her to him and take a long much needed nap.

But he couldn't leave. Being the second in command of a biker gang meant something. Especially right now.

The double doors at the end of the warehouse came open and the Woodbury people came in. The Governor in the front. His good eye stealing at them with hatred. He remembered when he took the other eye. Remembered how he had done it to save his dad's life. How in the end his father was killed anyway and it had only caused the Governor to take more of an interest in the youngest Dixon boy.

"Well hello, boys," The Governor said with a smile as if this was some kind of family reunion.

"We ain't here to tell you yes," Merle spat out, "Here to tell you for the last time to go fuck off and leave us alone. Ain't gonna help you traffic no girls.

A shilling laugh came from the Governor then and he simply raised his hand. He looked back at his men and waved signaling them to bring something forward.

Daryl felt cold when he saw two large men pull out two people from behind their crowd.

Heads covered in black bags. But he knew those shirts from anywhere. Blue with a smiley face on the breast.

_Beth._

Daryl made a move to step forward but Merle grabbed him pulling him back. He looked up to yell at his older brother before he saw the look of distress on the man's face.

He stood back and waited.

"I gave you both fair warning," The Governor said. He stepped behind the two bodies and pulled the bags of simultaneously.

He heard someone behind him gasp and recognized the strained voice as Tyreese as he slipped out, "_Sasha_."

So the fuckers had taken Tyreese's sister as well. Daryl wanted to kill them all and cry all at the same time.

Daryl's eyes fell on Beth and he felt the air leave his lungs. A part of him was hoping and praying that it wasn't actually her. But he knew better.

Beth's big blue eyes found his and he could see that she was trying to be strong. That she was trying not to break down and cry.

"I am giving you one more chance," The Governor said as he lifted a gun from his holster and placed it against the back of Beth's head.

Daryl felt his body still and tension came up around his shoulders.

"You can take my offer," The Governor said, "Or..." he cocked the gun, "I'll shoot her fucking brains out."

Silence fell around them all Merle began to make some incoherent noises but he didn't make any sense of them. The only thing filling his mind was Beth and only Beth. She never looked away from him, her eyes big and in her voice he heard her say "_Not for me. Not for me. Not for me." _

So he shook his head without thinking about it and Merle was agape beside him.

"We aren't fucking monsters," Was all Daryl said.

Two shots rang out at once.

Daryl didn't think that he would do it.

Thought that they had a chance.

He had decided that he was a fucking idiot for trying to be a better person.

The world spun.

The Governor fell to the ground in a heap just as Beth fell forward.

Daryl looked up and saw T-dog kneeling on the second floor of the warehouse, a sniper riffle in his hand. He was a shit shot but somehow had managed to hit the Governor right through the head.

What followed could only be described as a cluster fuck. Guns firing, voices screaming. But he heard none of it, he was surging forward to Beth's limp body on the floor.

There was blood coming from her head and he felt himself die at the sight of it.

He fell to the ground beside her pulling her into his arms.

He cried out in relief when he saw her big blue eyes staring back at him.

He ripped off the duct tape, which caused her to flinch he mumbled a 'sorry', and helped her pull the sock from between her teeth.

"Ow," was all she said to him and he felt himself laughing hysterically as hot tears fell down his cheeks at the same time.

"It's just a graze," He said with a wide smile. He looked over her scalp where a small cut was against the mop of blond hair. "Head bleeds more," He said dumbly.

She nodded and the tears finally fell from her eyes.

"It hurts something awful," She said before throwing her arms around his neck. Daryl looked at the scene around him. He heard Merle yell, "Retreat!" And soon his brothers were running out of the warehouse, Sasha tucked under her brother's arm.

He lifted Beth up, his arm going under her knees and took off with her, following the others out.

He had never been more afraid in his whole entire life.

She had almost died and it was because of him.

So when they went back to the club house, Beth tucked behind him on his bike.

He knew what he had to do.

He pulled Merle aside and said something to him in hushed voices.

He went back to Beth who was being tended to by one of the guys.

"Think you're gonna live," The man said with a smile.

Beth returned it.

When they were alone he decided to speak.

"Merle's gonna take you home," He said looking at his feet.

He could tell she was distressed by this, "Why... why aren't you going to?"

"Can't do this, Beth."

"What are you saying?"

"Saying its over. You almost died in there. It would have been all my fault."

Beth stepped forward her hands pulling his face up to meet hers but he pulled away.

"Don't do this," She gasped out.

"Too late," Was his response before he was turning on his heels and walking away. He didn't look back as she called his name. Didn't even look back when he heard Merle whisper to her gently and call his little brother 'a fucking diva.'

He didn't look back.

And he hated himself for it.

* * *

><p>BOOM<br>Super sad  
>Wow so sad<br>This is the longest chapter I have written for this story.  
>Bit of a time skip next chapter<br>I love all of you and I am so honored the responces that this story is getting! (:  
>Bethyl fans are my absolute favorite.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"I remember the cast on your arm<br>From when we were convinced we could fly  
>And how we covered it up in fake names<br>To make it seem like you were famous  
>When you came back to school"<br>"Echoes" - Radical Face**

Chapter 15

Daryl wasn't sure how he ended up like this.

A blond crawling over the center console of his car her hands gripping at his dick. Her eyes darkened with lust.

He wasn't sure how he had managed to end up like this.

Drunk and lost in his truck in the parking lot of some bar that he didn't know the name of with some girl he didn't know the name of.

But he kept his eyes closed, pushing her face away when she attempted to press her lips to his. She shrugged and went to undoing his belt and jeans pulling them down and gripping at him like he was a can of beans and she hadn't eaten in years.

When he opened his eyes to see her blonde head bobbing up and down he imagined that it was Beth.

All Beth.

Everything had become Beth.

The bottom of a bottle of rum was Beth, a lustful blonde with blue eyes was Beth, the air ripping across his skin as he rode his motorcycle all over town to clear his mind was Beth.

He really couldn't remember when he became so fucking sad.

He closed his eyes again and pretended that it was Beth's tongue swirling around his dick, that it was Beth's fingers crawling up his skin, sending fire through him.

If he pretended then he would be okay.

A sharp banging came from the passanger window and the woman shot up covering her mouth in embarrassement. The moment was gone and Beth had disappeared from his mind. He tucked himself away and buckled his belt as the passanger door flew up.

"The fuck you doing?" It was Merle. Daryl couldn't look at him.

"Sorry, Darlin'," he said as he gently removed the blonde from the car and took her place in the passanger seat.

Merle smacked the side of Daryl's head like he was their mutt, Mac, and he had just taken a piss on the floor.

"Been a year, Merle. Gotta move on," Daryl said rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"_Bullshit! _You gotta get your damn head out of your ass and go get Beth back," Merle scolded.

Daryl shook his head, his heart hurting at hearing her name.

"Don't you fuckin' shake your head at me, you dumb ass!" Merle bellowed. Daryl could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves.

"I don't have any fight left, Merle," Daryl said, "I just want to move the fuck on."

Merle looked at his brother with sadness.

"You just givin' up then?" Merle asked.

Daryl didn't respond. He started his car and looked at Merle expectantly, wanting him to get out and go the fuck away.

Merle took that as a hint and put his hand on the door handle not before turning and saying, "You only have one soulmate. Don't fuck it up." And with that Merle exited from the car and went off on his own.

Daryl simply put his car in reverse and left the bar. He didn't know where he was going but all he knew is that he needed to get the image of Beth out of his mind.

xxxxxxxxxx

She felt slightly empty inside. Like a hole had opened up and was swelling and growing causing an ache that could never be filled.

Beth had asked Maggie when it would stop hurting. When the holes in her chest would be full again, when the dull ache would turn away into nothing. Maggie didn't seem to have an answer, "Someday it just doesn't hurt anymore." It had been a year and a few months and it still hurt like a bitch.

Beth found herself unable to sleep again. She would often lay in the back yard of their new house and stare at the stars.

One night she even found herself standing on the front porch of the family farm. She had seen a glistening under the porch and bent over to pull out the bottle of moonshine that her and Daryl had shared. The night he told her he loved her. She sat there and cried.

Although the pain didn't go away she learned how to cope with it. She was 19 now. She went to college for one semester before she thought of adding to the scars on her arm to which she promptly dropped out and went home, reminding herself that she was stronger now. Sometimes she wasn't so sure.

Maggie had been the first to suggest that she go on a date. A family had just moved in down the street and they had a son that was around her age. His name was Zach or Jake or something like that. Beth didn't want to go out with him. She didn't want to go out with anyone. But when the boy came knocking at their door with a sweet smile on his face she found herself unable to say now.

That was how she was where she was now.

And she wasn't exactly sure how it had happened.

He was talking animatedly about something or other and she found herself stirring her soda with her straw nodding and smiling every once in a while to pretend that she was listening.

Beth watched the window outside and almost fell over as she saw Merle walking down the side walk with his head hung low and his hands shoved in his pockets. Beth continued to eye him as he walked by the resturaunt.

She looked at Zach cutting him off of his speech, "I have to go." She said suddenly. She stood from the chair, grabbed her jacket and purse.

He was saying something along the lines of, "But I drove."

"I'm sorry... I just. I have to go," She said quickly.

"Can we go out again?" He asked calling after her as she high tailed it to the door.

"No!" She called before opening the door and stepping out into the cool air. She looked both ways until she saw Merle's form dragging his feet on the ground.

She jogged up to him, "Merle!"

He stopped to turn his eyes wide. His smile broke into a wide grin, "Beth!"

He opened his arms and she fell into them. He held her tight and swung her back and forth.

"I missed you so much, baby doll," He said deeply.

Beth felt hot tears begin to pour out of her eyes. She couldn't stop herself. She had missed the Dixons more than anyone would understand.

She pulled back and looked up at Merle who had a soft smile on his face.

"What you doing out here?" He asked looking around her for someone else.

"I was on a date," She blurts, "I... I was there and he was talking and he was sweet and good and pulled out my chair but... but..." She rubbed the tears away with the sleeve of her jacket.

Merle simply nodded and pulled her in for another hug.

When Beth finally stopped crying Merle pulled back.

He looked at the scar at the top of Beth's hairline that disappeared into her hair.

Without thinking Merle lifted his finger and poked it, "Been beatin' himself up somethin' awful."

"Still?" She asked not looking into his eyes.

"Still. Never gonn' stop I don't think."

Beth nodded.

"Need a ride?" He asked.

Beth had run out of that restaurant without thinking about the fact that without Zach she would be stuck downtown.

"Yeah," She said slightly embarrassed.

"Come on then," Merle said shrugging for her to follow him. "Walked here from the clubhouse. We can take the truck."

Beth nodded and followed him. Trying not to think about the fact that she may or may not be seeing Daryl again very soon.

* * *

><p><strong>meow<br>Tell me what you think..  
>Lots of sexual stuff this half of the story. ohyeah ;)<br>And don't worry Beth and Daryl are always going to be together no matter what.  
><strong>

**I feel like there are a lot of errors in here but I'm pumping out so many chapters and ideas right now that I am too excited to check. Sorryyyy**


	16. Chapter 16

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p><strong>"And Momma was losing her mind<br>****So we built a home in the woods  
><strong>**And I carved our names in the sign  
><strong>**With a knife we found beneath the house"  
>"Echoes" - Radical Face<strong>

Chapter 16

Beth had her hands deep in soapy water in the sink when Maggie walked into the kitchen.

Beth looked over at her sister whose dark hair was sticking up in odd directions, her eyes half closed with sleep.

"Mornin'," Maggie drawled sleepily, "How was your date?" She came up behind Beth and wrapped her arms around her sister's small waist. Maggie placed her head on Beth's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Beth pretended Maggie hadn't asked and giggled at her sister, "Rough night?"

Maggie pulled away and ran her hands through her hair calming it down only a little bit.

"We were out at the bar until late... too late," Maggie said softly rubbing her eyes with her palms. She looked at Beth then, who immediately turned back to the sink.

"You trying to distract me?" Maggie asked suddenly. She stepped to the fridge and pulled it open. She returned to Beth's side with a carton of Orange Juice in her hand.

"How was the date?" Maggie asked sternly. Beth sighed deeply and stilled her hands over the very clean plate that she had realized she had been washing for far too long.

"I um..." Beth turned the water on to run the soap out of the sink. "I um..." she repeated grabbing a towel and drying the plate in her hand.

"You know we have a dish washer right?" Maggie asked suddenly raising her eyebrows, "You only clean when your stressed. So spill."

Beth bit her bottom lip and then said in a haste, "I left in the middle of it. We didn't even get our food and I was running out the restaurant like a bat out of hell all because I saw Merle walking down the street and I went after him and he told me that Daryl was a mess and then offered to bring me home and then we got to the club house and the truck was gone and so was Daryl so Sasha's brother brought me home because he was there and I just..." she took a deep breath after the rush of a sentence, "and I'm completely okay." She lied.

Maggie raised her eyebrows in shock and nodded slowly, "Okay... sure you are. So you didn't see...?" Before she could say the name Glenn came waltzing into the kitchen with a grin on his face.

Beth thanked god for the distraction as Glenn patted Beth's head and then kissed Maggie on the cheek.

"I have good news," He held his phone up and shook it back and forth and said, "Guess who just called?"

Maggie's eyes widened and Beth felt completely lost.

"We got the whole land for a week for the wedding!" Glenn said excitedly. Maggie squealed and Beth, between smiling and covering her ears, was pulled into an outrageously strong group hug.

"What land? For what?" Beth finally asked when she managed to pull herself out of Maggie's steal grip.

"Daddy's farm!" She chirped, "For the wedding!"

Beth's mouth hung open in shock.

"You're gettin' married on the farm?" Beth asked in shock.

Maggie hesitated and then smiled and nodded. Beth found herself smiling back.

"A whole week?" Maggie asked excitedly.

Glenn nodded, "A whole week."

Looks like Maggie is finally getting married.

Beth couldn't help but be a little nervous.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Sasha lived just past the club house where the Dixon's lived and Beth found herself trying to take every roundabout to get around the giant obstacle in the way. Beth had her phone pressed to her ear as Sasha complained about summer courses and extra credits.

"I'm already so far behind," She said sadly, "I shouldn't have taken a year off."

"Maybe it was what you needed," Beth responded. Her eyes wandered down the street that lead to the club house and she hesitated.

"I don't regret it but it is a giant inconvenience, you know?" Sasha said with a sigh.

"I guess," Beth mumbled back. She was too busy standing at the intersection deciding which way to go.

"Ugh," Beth heard Sasha groan, "Just go past the clubhouse. It's faster, 'sides don't think you want to be taking an extra 15 minute walk in this heat."

Beth wanted to agree with her but the fear of running into Daryl was almost too strong. "But what if..."

Sasha cut her off, "He's never around anymore. Ty told me."

Beth frowned at that but said nothing. She looked both ways on the street and crossed her feet carrying her towards the place she used to consider her second home.

Sasha continued to say words of encouragement but all were lost when the clubhouse door was thrown open and Merle was dragging a beat up looking man out the front door. When Beth realized who it was she froze.

"Beth?" Sasha asked on the other line.

"I'll call you back. I might be late," She said simply before cutting the phone off and shoving it into her pocket.

Merle's face was red with fury and Beth could see veins nearly popping on his forehead.

"You stupid fucking son of a bitch!" Merle was yelling as he dragged his close to death brother towards the truck, "You got a death wish!? Huh? I been tryin' to held you, boy, but yous a lost cause!"

Merle turned finally and was facing Beth when he froze. His eyes flickered from anger to regret and something Beth guessed was empathy.

For some reason her body decided to move without her permission and soon she was on the other side of Daryl helping Merle drag him towards the truck.

She kept her eyes on his face, his eyes were closed and his forehead was creased in pain. He could barely hold himself up, Beth wondered if it was because he had gotten such a bad beating or if it was because he was still drunk. She could smell the alcohol on him.

"What happened?" She asked loudly. Daryl twitched at the sound of her voice but made no move to look at her or pull away. Beth was thankful for that.

"He's a dumb fucking asshole is what happened," Merle yelled forcing open the passenger side of the truck and unceremoniously pushing Daryl into the passenger seat.

"Got himself beat near to death by some Woodbury assholes. Went to Atlanta last night and came back this morning covered in blood and half dead. I gotta bring him to the hospital or somethin'," Merle pulled a seat belt over Daryl's still form and then closed the truck door.

He looked down at Beth thoughtfully.

"You know how to drive?" He asked.

"Yeah...?" She gave him an odd look.

"You got a license?"

"No..."

Merle put his hand on his chin then said, "Well... good'nough for me. Take the truck and this fucker to the hospital. I will be behind you on the bike." He dropped the keys to the truck in Beth's hand. She looked at him them in fear.

She went to protest but when she looked up Merle was already mounting his bike and kicking it started.

"C'mon! Know you mad at him but he needs help!" Merle yelled over the roar of his engine.

Beth didn't need to be told twice. She walked around the truck and got into the driver side. Daryl was half awake at this point and watching her as she started the truck up.

"Am I dead?" He drawled next to her his voice low and gruff.

"Yeah," She responded as she pulled on her seatbelt and put the truck into reverse pulling out of the clubhouse parking lot, "You didn't make it. I killed you cause you're a fool of a man."

Daryl made a noise that sounded very similar to a laugh.

"Never been a good man," He mumbled his voice cracking. Beth spared at glimpse at him. His body was curled forward and his arms were bruised and bloody. His face was even worse but she couldn't look at him right now. Not when she was driving her exes nearly dead body illegally to the hospital.

"You were once," She whispered.

The rest of the ride was in silence.

* * *

><p>I'm back! Sorry for the delay! School has pulled me into a swirl of madness I tell you!<p>

Let me know what you think!


	17. Chapter 17

_Daryl and Merle Dixon are kno__wn around for their involvement in the local biker gang as well as their involvement in the drug market. When Merle is hospitalized after a gang stand off things begin to go to shit. When Daryl meets 17 year old Beth Greene in the hospital he realizes he isn't the only one with issues._

_OR_

_In which Daryl is in a biker gang  
>Beth tries to kill herself<br>And Merle finds Jesus_

**warning: mention of violence and mention of self harm please be cautious when reading**

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

_Did you stand there all alone? _  
><em>Oh I cannot explain what's going down<em>  
><em>I can see you standing next to me<em>  
><em>In and out somewhere else right now<em>  
><em>Cigarette Day Dream- Cage the Elephant<em>

Beth continues to rub her thumb around the skin of Daryl's hand. He's asleep in the hospital bed. And Beth can finally take a good look at him. His hair has grown. Long and shaggy. As he lays sleeping it covers his eyes and falls across his forehead. He had always kept it cropped and short. With her free hand she pushes the loose strands away from his eyes. He twitches but does not stir from his slumber.

Beth sighs deeply and runs he finger tips over a bruise on his cheek.

_Stupid man,_ she thinks to herself, _stupid stupid man_.

She still loves him. There was no way that a year could change that. Those feelings. But she isn't sure how he feels. Or if he even cares. She sits back in her chair and continues to run her thumb over his callosed hand.

The door to the hospital room opens. Beth turns to see Merle coming in with Maggie close behind him.

"We spend way too much damn time in the hospital," Maggie says with a frown. She comes up behind Beth and places her hands on her sister's shoulders.

"He okay?" Maggie asks looking down at Daryl's sleeping form.

Merle chuckles, "He's a damn tough ass. He'll be fine. Physically at least."

Beth looks over to Merle then. They catch each other's eyes and Merle gives her a sad smile.

"What happened, Merle?" Maggie asks gently looking over to the older man. He is standing against the wall of the hospital room with his arms crossed on his chest.

"Got in a fight with some assholes in Atlanta," Merle says with a shrug. Beth can't help but tell that Merle is being vague. Maggie may or may not know about the gang stuff. Beth wasn't sure. She had only heard rumors about the Dixon's while she was in school. Beth didn't know if the whispers had spread enough to catch Maggie's ears.

Beth can't see her sister's face but she guesses that Maggie is frowning as she says, "Mhm. Sure."

Merle raises his arms in defense, "Not my fault, kiddo." Maggie shifts behind Beth and lifts her hands from her sister's shoulders.

"Is this why he left, Beth?" Maggie asks pointing over to Daryl's sleeping form.

Merle raises his eyebrows at her.

"The fuck you mean?"

Beth feels her throat tighten. Maggie doesn't know about the gun shot. Or the governor. Or _any _of that.

"Did he leave Beth because of this?" Maggie asks again, "Because of some 'assholes in Atlanta.'"

Merle catches Beth's eyes over Maggie's shoulder and she quickly shakes her head.

Merle sighs and rubs his head absently.

"Listen. It's complicated. What Daryl and I do... it ain't safe," Merle looks directly at Beth then as he says, "He loves her too much. Don't want her gettin' hurt."

Maggie turns and looks at Beth.

Beth simply squeezes Daryl's hand absently.

"Bethy," Maggie says with a breath, "I know you love him but..."

Beth shakes her head.

"It's over. So you don't have to worry about it. He left me remember?" Beth says sharply.

She goes to release Daryl's hand so she can escape the room but as she loosens her grip his hand suddenly wraps around hers tightly.

Beth looks down at him.

"Daryl?" She says softly.

His eyes squeeze shut before opening slowly.

"Jesus," He says in a croaky voice, "What the fuck happened?"

Merle laughs loudly at the other end of the room. The sound makes Daryl flinch.

"Got your ass whooped little brother," Merle says with another loud laugh.

Beth shoots him a glare before looking back to Daryl. His eyes are on her now. He seems confused. Almost startled that she is even there.

His eyes fall to their clasped hands.

"We should go," Maggie says loudly. She takes a hold of Merle's arm and begins to pull him from the room as he protests.

"Be careful, Bethy," Maggie says loud enough for Daryl to hear her, "You need to make your own choices, I get that. Just know that no matter what I will be on your side. Even if it is unbelievably stupid."

She turns and quickly tugs Merle out of the room.

When the door slams shut Beth feels the weight of Daryl's gaze begin to eat at her.

She turns her head slowly and catches Daryl's dark eyes.

"Hi," he says softly.

"Hey," Beth responds.

She feels dumb. She feels scared and dumb. Like a child.

Daryl runs his fingers over the palm of her hand and interlocks his fingers between hers. Beth stares at their hands for a moment before she tightens her slim fingers around his.

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

Beth looks at him with wide eyes. After a moment her face melts into a smile. "Did Daryl Dixon just say he's sorry? I should get that on paper."

He smiles at her and lets out a breathy chuckle. He closes his eyes in pain and then settles back into the bed.

"I'm an idiot."

"You're an asshole too," Beth says with a knowing smile. Mimicking the conversation they had the last time they were in a hospital room.

Daryl shakes his head, his lips turned up in amusement.

"Missed you," He says. He untwists his fingers from her hand and then runs his finger tips across the palm before returning to their original place of clasping hers.

Beth shakes her head and something in her stomach begins to tighten and she feels like she might explode. Explode or laugh. So she laughs. Loud and brethlesly. She presses her face into the side of Daryl's bed and giggles like an idiot.

"The fuck's so funny?" Daryl asks but there is no anger there. In fact Beth can practically hear him smiling.

"It's just that," She sits up and rests her chin on his forearm looking up at him, "A year and a half ago we met in this exact building. And now we are back. After being apart for a whole year." She sits up then and pries her finger from his.

"We need to talk about it," She says. Her voice is stern as she says it, "We need to talk about this past year. Do have any idea what you did to me?"

Daryl's face is full of guilt. His eyes are slanted and Beth can see them darkening in sadness.

"Do you have any idea what happened to me this whole year we were apart? I almost _died_ that night! And you just! You just up and left me!" She realizes she is yelling now. It doesn't matter. She needed it to be out. Every bit of anger and resentment. She needed him to know all of it. To feel it.

Daryl opens his mouth to speak but Beth cuts him off.

"You broke my heart, Daryl Dixon," She spits out, "I'm not going to make this easy for you."

Daryl's eyes widen and his eyebrows raise in shock.

"You... you want me back?" He asks.

Beth looks at him aghast.

"Of course you idiot!" She throws her arms up in defeat, "I love you!"

The blue of Daryl's eyes become glazed over and Beth swears that he is about to cry.

"I love you too," he breaths out. His voice is low and gravely.

Beth scowls at him. "Not so fast!" She says pointing to him, "You are going to do this right. You are going to make up for that whole entire year we lost. You are never going to keep things from me again! _And, _you are going to have to make me fall in love with you again."

Daryl raises his eyebrows, "But you just said..."

Beth groans, "Just pretend I never said it!" Her shakes her hands out in front of her as if she is blowing the 'I love you' straight out of the air and out of their memories.

Daryl can't help but smile. God he loves this girl.

"Challenge accepted," He says with a smile on his face.

Beth can't help but smile back, "I wish you luck, Mr. Dixon. I am a tough woman to woo."

She stands from her chair beside his bed and makes her way to leave.

"Wait," Daryl says as Beth is turning towards the door. She pauses and looks back at him.

"Let's just pretend. For five minutes." His voice is desperate and Beth can't ever say no to that.

_Pretending,_ she thinks to herself, _that's what we do. Pretend._

She may not like it. Pretending. But she finds herself nodding.

Slowly, for what feels like hours, Beth makes her way over to the side of his bed.

She lowers herself onto it, just close enough that her thigh is brushing his arm. He lifts his hand and places it on her leg, rubbing circles into her jeans absently.

"I love you," She whispers. She places her hands on either side of his face.

"I love you." Daryl whispers back.

And then she kisses him.

And it's like that year never happened.

His lips are dry and cracked against her smooth ones. But she doesn't care. All she feels is him. Alive and real and wonderful. He opens his mouth to deepen the kiss and she obliges letting him run his tongue across the edge of her lower lip. She lets her mouth fall open and soon it's just them. And it's warm and breathless.

When they pull apart Beth simply rests her forehead against Daryl's.

"5 minutes," Beth mumbles. The warmth of her breath ghosts across Daryl's face.

"Fuck," He sighs. Beth can't help but smile at him.

She leans back and removes her hands from his warm skin.

"Remember," Beth says as she makes her way to the door and places her hand on the handle, "I'm not going to make this easy for you." She turns with a coy smile and then leaves, letting the door slam shut behind her.

No. No she won't make this easy. Daryl absently chews on his thumb as he stares at the space that she just left empty.

But if anything, Daryl is definitely determined.

* * *

><p><strong>Wowwwww haven't updated this in foreverr! Sorry about that! Hope you enjoy. <strong>

**Let me know what you think! **


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